Feeding mechanism for tack-making machines



June 26, 1928.

C. PERKINS ET AL FEEDING MECHANISM FOR TACK MAKING MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1924 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 9- 4% n% t mwwm mm M mm r w [5% w n r w .d WWW; 8mm N \\\J mm c Q n \N 1Q m 1 m m June 26, 1928.

C. PERKINS ET AL FEEDING MECHANISM FOR TACK MAKING MACHINES Patented June 26, 1928.

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CHARLES PERKINS, F BEIDGEVQTATER, AND ALFRED T. KEITH, OF BROCKTON, MASfiACHUSETTS.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR TACK-MAKING MACHINES.

Application filed December 24, 1924:. Serial No. 757,857.

This invention relates to a feeding mechanism for a tack making machine, and has for its object to provide a novel mechanism for feeding a strip of sheet metal to the cutting and forming instrumentalities of a tack making machine.

The invention consists of a feeding mechanism for a tack making machine, as set forth in the following specification, and particularly as pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a feeding mechanism embodying our invention.

. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail transverse section taken on the line 22, Fig. 1, illustrating a portion of the cam and rocker mechanism which causes the gripping mechanism for the strip to be operated.

Figs. 3, 4L and 5 are detail plan'views illustrating different positions of the camand rocker mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view illustratfeeding mechanism.

ing a portion of the Fig. taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a detail transverse section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a detail transverse section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the manner of cutting the tack blanks from the strip of sheet metal.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 represents a portion of the frame of a tack making machine. 11 represents a gauge against which a strip of sheet metal A from which tacks are formed, may contact in order that said strip of sheet metal may be correctly positioned relatively to a bed knife 12, a logy blade 13 and a carrier blade 14:, said blades forming a portion of the cutting instrumentalities of the tack making machine, and all being old and well known in the art.

Located upon opposite sides of the strip of sheet metal A and contacting with the opposite edges of said strip are guards 15 and 16, both of which are well known in the art.

The strip sheet metal A is held within 7 is a vertical longitudinal section the holder 17, through which it is fed intermittently to the cutting and forming inst-rumentalities of the tack making machine, and said holder is supported adjacent to its forward end in the usual well known manner at 18 upon the bed knife 12, and adjacent to its rear end upon a standard 19, the latter being supported upon a boom 20, which, in turn, is supported upon an apron 21 fast to the frame 10. The boom is pivoted at 22 to the apron 21, and the former is adjusted laterally relatively to the latter by screws 23 mounted in the apron 21 and engaging the opposite sides of the boom 20.

The holder 17 embodies therein a tubular member 24 having a pair of nose pieces 25 projecting forwardly from the front end thereof, said nose pieces projecting toward each other at 26 and having oppositely disposed grooves 27 formed therein in which guide members 28 are loosely mounted. The guide members 28 have oppositely disposed grooves 29 formed therein through which the strip of sheet metal A is fed, and a spring 30 is secured to the inner surface of each nose piece 25, one end of said spring yieldingly engaging the outer edge of each guide member 28, and thereby forcing said guide members against the opposite edges of the strip of sheet metal A. The guide members 28 are supported and positioned adjacent to their rear ends by screws 31 which extend loosely through the tubular member 24 and have screw-threaded engagement with the guide members 28. A spring 32 rests upon the guide members 28 and opposite ends of said spring engage the outer edges of said guide members and act to force the rear portions of the latter against the opposite edges of the strip of metal A.

Located within the tubular member 24 adjacent to the inner end of the grooved guide members 28 is another guide member 33, the latter being a tight fit within said tubular member 24, and. having an opening 34 therein through which the strip of sheet metal A may pass.

'Located upon the exterior of the tubular member 2 1 at a point adjacent to the rear end thereof is a spherical member 35, the latter being rigidly secured in any suitable manner to said tubular member and resting ina bearing memliee atrial-11y mounted at 37 upon the upper end of the standard 19. A spring 38 fast to the standard 19 engages an edge of the bearing member 36 and acts to force the latter, together with the tubular member 24:, toward the right in Fig. 1. r

The strip of sheet metal A is gripped in order that it may be fed forwardly by a mechanism as follows: lilounted upon the tubular member 2 1 of the holder 17 is a sleeve 39, the latter being slidable longitudinally of said tubular member, but also being secured to the latter to rotate in unison therewith by a pin 40, which is mounted in the tubular member and projects through a slot 41 provided in the sleeve 39. Rigidly secured to the periphery of the sleeve 39 in any suitable manner is a curved plate 42, and mounted on said plate and projecting through an opening in said sleeve andthrough a slot 44 provided in the tubular member 24 is a bloc: 13 in which a screw 45 constituting an anvil has screw-threaded engagement. The inner end of the anvil 45 contacts with one side of the strip of metal A, and the position of the inner end of said anvil may be adjusted by turning the same in the proper direction within the block 43. A look nut 46 is provided for the anvil 45. Mounted upon the opposite side of the sleeve 39 from the anvil 45 is a pawl t7, the latter being pivoted to said sleeve at 18. "The. pawl 17 has a point ll) 'adjustably secured therein, said point being adapted to engage the opposite face of the strip of metal A from that engaged by the anvil 425. A spring 50 located between an arm 51 of the pawl 17 and the sleeve 39 acts to always force the point 49 against the strip of metal A, and the pawl. 17 therefore co-operates with the anvil L5 in gripping said strip of sheet metal therebetw'een. A stop 52 is se cured to the sleeve 39 and projects into the path of movement of the arm 51 of the pawl 47, thereby limiting the extent to which the spring 50 may rock said pawl at such times as there is no strip of metal A located within the holder 17.

The sleeve 39, together with the gripping mechanism mounted thereon, is moved rearwardly of the holder 17 by mechanism as follows: Secured to the boom 20 previously mentioned is a bracket 53 to which a hearing member ti t is adjustably secured in any suitable manner, and mounted upon said bearing member a rocker 55, the latter having a shank 56 projecting downwardly therefrom into said bearing member. The shank 56 has notches 57 and 58 provided therein into which a pin 59 mountedin the bearing member 5 1 may project, said pin being forced into said notches at such times as its aligns therewith by a spring 60 fast to the bearing member 54. The movement of the rocker 55 in either direction is limited by a pin 61 which projects upwardly from thebearing member 54: into a slot 612 provided in the rocker '55. The rocker 55 also has a tooth63 provided thereon which is engaged by a cam 64 which is rigidly secured to the .sleeve 39, and when a rock ing motion is imparted to said sleeve 39 and holder 17' by mechanism hereinafter to be described, shouldered portions 65 and 66 formed upon said cam 64 engage the tooth (l3, rocking the latter in such a manner that corners 67 and 68 of the rocker o5 will be forced into engagement with the front face of saidc'am, and a continued movement'of said cam will cause the same, together with the sleeve 39, to which it is rigidly secured, to move toward theleft in Fig. 1.

Rigidly secured to the sleeve '39. adjacent to the cam 64: is an end thrust bearing 69 and the latter engages a forked extremity '?0 of an arm 71 of a bell crank lever 72, the latter being pivoted at 73 to'the bracket 53. Another arm H of the bell'crank lever 72 has a weight 75 suspended therefrom. The arm 74 of the bell crank lever 72 rests upon a spring 76 which is mounted in any suitable manner upon a lever 77 of well known construction pivoted at 78 to the frame 10, and actuated by a mechanism forming part of the tack machine. l

A collar '(9 is rigidly secured in any suitable inanner'to the tubular member 24 of' the holder 17, and the movement of the sleeve 39 toward the left as hereinbefore mentioned, is suilicient to cause the rear end of said sleeve to engage said collar, thereby forcing the latter, together with the entire holder 17 and the strip or sheet metal A therein toward the left in Fig. 1 a sullicient amount from the knife blades 13 and lt to permit the holder 17 to be rotated as hereinbefore to be described.

During the rearward movement of the sleeve 39 and the gripping mechanism mounted thereon, the strip of sheet metal A is prevented from moving rearwardly through the holder 1'? by a mechanism that is practically identical with said gripping mechanism and embodies therein a curved plate 80 rigidly secured to the periphery of the tubular member 24, said plate having a block 81 mounted thereon and projecting through an opening in the tubular member 24, and having a screw 8:2 constituting 'an'anvil extending theretln'ough. The inner end of'the anvil 82 contacts with one side of the'strip of metal A and the position of the inner endof said anvil maybe adjusted by turning the same in'the proper direction within the block 81, after which it is securedby a lock nut 83. Mounted upon the opposite side of the tubular member 24 from the anvil 82'is a pawl 84. the latter being pivoted to said tubular member at 85. The pawl 8% has a lid point 86 adjustably secured therein, said point being adapted to engage the opposite face of the strip of metal A from that engaged by the anvil 82. A spring 87 located between an arm'88 of the pawl 84 and the tubular member 24 acts to always force the point 86 against the strip of metal A, and the pawl 84 therefore cooperates with the anvil 82 in gripping said strip of sheet metal and preventing a rearward movement thereof relatively to the holder 17.

In feeding the strip of sheet metal A to the cutting instrumentalities of the tack ma chine, a rocking movement is imparted to the holder 17 in order that narrow triangular shaped blanks a: may be cut as indicated in Fig. 1.0 from said strip A. The mechanism for imparting this rocking movement to the holder 17 is all old and well known in theart, but briefly described is as follows: Pivotally mounted at 89 on the boom 20 is a lever 90, the latter embodying therein arms 91, 92 and 93. The arm 91 of the lever 90 is operatively connected to the tubular member 24 by a strap 94, preferably constructed iof flexible material, such as leather, one end of said strap being attached to said arm 91, andthe other-end of said strap extending around and being secured to the periphery of the tubular member 24. The arm 92 of the lever is also operatively connected with the tubular member 24 by a strap 95, one end of which is attached to said arm 92. the other end of said strap extending around the tubular member 24 in an opposite direction to the strap 94, and being secured to said tubular member in any suitable manner. A rocking motion is imparted to the lever 90 by a rod 96 which has a reciprocatory movement imparted thereto by mechanism fori'ning a part of the tack machine, and well known to those skilled in the art, there beingamember 97 fast to said rod which contacts with a pin 98 provided on the arm 93 of the lever 90 when said rod is moved toward the left in Fig. 1, while a trip lever 99 fastened to a member 100 also rigidly secured to the rod 96 engages the pin 98 when said rod 96 is moved toward the right in Fig. 1.

A spring 101 fast to the trip lever 99 and engaging one side of a pointed extremity 102 of the member 100 normally holds the latter in a position to engage the pin 98 at such times as it is desired to rock the lever 90. When, however, it is not desired to rock said lever 90, the lever 99 is moved to a position where the spring 101 will engage the other side of said pointed extremity 102 of the member 100 in such a manner that said lever will be prevented from engaging with the pin 98 during the movement of the rod 96 toward the right in Fig. 1. When a rocking movement is imparted to the lever 90 as hereinbcfore mentioned, an intermittent rocking motion will be imparted to the tubular member 24, together with the holder 17 mounted thereon.

A gravity actuated mechanism, old and well known in the art, is employed for feeding the strips of'metal A into a position to be gripped by the feeding mechanism previously mentioned, and embodies therein a pusher 103 which is mounted to slide upon a guide 104, the latter being adjustably mounted. upon the standard 19 and the boom 20. The pusher 103 is actuated by a weight 105 and is connected by a suitable flexible memher 106 with said pusher, said flexible member passing over a pulley 107 rotatably mounted upon the guide 104. The rear end of the strips of metal A are supported within a holder 108 mounted within the pusher 103.

The general operation of the feeding mechanism hereinbefore described is as follows: Assuming that a. strip of sheet metal A is located in position within the holder 17 and that a rocking movement is imparted to said holder by the mechanism hereinbefore described and'well known to those skilled in the art, during the movement of the tubular member 24. sleeve 39 and cam 64 in a clockwise direction, Fig. 2, the. shoulder of the cam 64 engages the tooth 63 of the rocker 55, forcing the latter in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, until the corner 67 of said rocker engages the face of the cam 64 as illustrated in Fig. 4, and a continued movement of said cam will cause the rocker 55 to force said cam, together with the sleeve and gripping mechanism mounted thereon a short distance toward the left in Fig. 1. The cam 64 is rocked in a clockwise direction through an. arc of 180, and during the latter part of this movement, the face of the cam passes out of engagement with the corner 67 of the rocker 55 and the shoulder 66 of said camv passes beyond the teeth 63 of said rocker.

During the rearward movement of the sleeve 39, the end thrust bearing 69 in engagement with the forked extremity of the bell crank lever 72 causes the latter to be rocked in a direction to lift the weight 7 5 so that as soon as the shoulder 66 of the cam 64 passes beyond the tooth 63 of the rocker, the action of the weight'75 will be to cause the sleeve 39 and mechanism mounted thereon to move forwardly, and'the gripping'mechanism will feed the strip of sheet metal a distance sufficient to allow one of the blanks a to be cut therefrom.

At the end of the clockwise movement of the cam 64, the relative position of said cam and rocker 55 are as illustrated in Fig. 5, at which time the tooth 63 is in a position to be engaged by the shoulder 66 of the cam when the latter is moved in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, the action of said cam and rocker at this time being the same as hereinbefore mentioned to move the sleeve 39, and mechanism mounted thereon, in a rearward direction preparatory to feeding the strip of. sheet metal.

During the latter part of each rearward movement of the sleeve 39, the rear end of the latter engages the collar 79 last to the tubular member 24, and the latter, together with the rest of the holding mechanism mounted thereon, is moved rearwardly a sufficient amount'to allow the strip of metal A to be disengaged from the cutting instrumentalities, and allowing said strip of metal to be rocked without interference from said cutters, 7

It will be noted that the rearward movementof thesleeve 39 and gripping mechanism is caused by the cam 64. and rocker during each intermittent rocking movement of the holder 17, whereas the forward move ment of the sleeve 89 and gripping mechanism to feed th'estrip of metal A is caused by the weight 75. I

lV'e claim 1. A feeding mechanism for a tack making machine comprising, in combination, means tov hold a strip of sheet metal, means to impart a rocking movement to said holding means, a sleeve slidably mounted upon said holding means, an anvil adjustably mounted in said sleeve and engaging said strip of metal upon one side thereof, a pawl also mounted upon said sleeve and having an adjustable member co-operating with said anvil to grip said strip of metal, means embodying therein a cam and rocker to move said sleeve and gripping means rearwardly of said holding means during the rocking movement of the latter, means carried by said holding means adapted to be engaged by said sleeve during the rearward movement thereof, whereby said holding means is moved rearward-1y to disengage said strip of metal from the tack cutting instrumentalities, means to prevent said strip of metal from moving rearwardly with said gripping means, and means to move said sleeve to feed said strip of metal forwardly through said holding means.

2. A feeding mechanism for a tack making machine con'iprising, in combination, a frame, a tubular member mounted upon said frame, apair of oppositely disposed members mounted within said tubular member to guide a strip of sheet metal therethrough,

a cam fast to said sleeve and co-operating with said rocker member to move said sleeve and gripping means rearwardly upon said tubular member, means carried by said tubular member adapted to be engaged by. said sleeve during the rearward movement thereof, whereby said tubular member is moved rearwardly to disengage said strip of metal from the tack cutting instrumentalities,

means to prevent said strip of metal from moving rearwardly with said gripping means, and means to move said sleeve and gripping means to feed said strip of metal forwardly through said guide members.

3. A feed mechanism for a tack making machine comprising, in combination, a

frame, a bearing member slidably mounted upon said frame and provided with a spherical recess there n, means to hold said strip or sheet metal, said means embodying therein a spherical bearing port-ion adapted to be mounted within said recess, means to impart a rocking movement to said holding means, a sleeve slidably mounted upon said holding means and also rotatable therewith, means upon said sleeve to grip said strip of sheet metal, means to move said sleeve andgripping means rearwardlyupon said holding means, means to prevent said strip of metal from moving rearwardly with said gripping means, means carried by said'hol'ding means adapted to be engaged by said sleeve during the rearward movement thereof, whereby said holding means is moved rearwardly to disengage said strip of metal from the tack cutting instrumentalities, means to move said sleeve to feed said strip of metal through said holding means, and means to move said bearing member to position said holding means and strip of metal into position for the latter to be engaged by the tack cutting instrumentalitics.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

' CHARLES PERKINS.

ALFRED T. KEITH. 

